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{{short description|Indian singer and dancer}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Gauhar Jaan
| image = Gauhar Jaan.jpg
| image_size =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| alias =
| birth_name = Angelina Yeoward
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1873|06|26}}
| birth_place = [[Azamgarh]], [[North-Western Provinces]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1930|01|17|1873|06|26}}
| death_place = [[Mysore]], [[British India]]
| genre = [[Ghazal]], [[thumri]], [[dadra]]
| occupation = Musician, dancer
| in =
| years_active = 1887–1930<ref name="Tribune2008">{{cite news |last1=Nevile |first1=Pran |title=Melodies on record |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080413/spectrum/main1.htm |access-date=26 June 2018 |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |date=13 April 2008}}</ref>
| associated_acts =
| module = {{Listen |embed= yes |filename= Thumari By Gauhar Jaan Recorded in 1905.ogg |title= Gauhar Jaan's voice |type= music |description= Thumari with "My name is Gauhar Jaan" at the end. Recorded in 1905. }}
| module2 =
}}

'''Gauhar Jaan''' (born '''Angelina Yeoward'''; 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1930)<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thiyyadi |first=Sreevalsan |date=26 June 2018 |title=The Unheralded Revolution Gauhar Jaan Brought in to Indian Classical Music |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/the-unheralded-revolution-gauhar-jaan-brought-in-to-indian-classical-music/312862 |magazine=Outlook |access-date=15 January 2021}}</ref> was an Indian singer and dancer from [[Kolkata]]. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, which was later released by the [[Saregama|Gramophone Company of India]] and resulted in her being known as "the Gramophone girl" and "the first recording superstar of India".<ref name="first"/> Having recorded more than 600 songs in more than ten languages between 1902 and 1920, Jaan is credited with popularising Hindustani classical music such as ''[[thumri]]'', ''[[dadra]]'', ''[[kajri]]'', and ''[[tarana]]'' during the period.

==Early life==
Gauhar Jaan was born as Eleen Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in [[Azamgarh]], of Armenian descent.<ref>{{Cite book|title="My name is Gauhar Jaan!" : the life and times of a musician|last=Vikram.|first=Sampath|date=2010|publisher=Rupa & Co|isbn=9788129116185|location=New Delhi|oclc=631243857}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Savitha Gautam |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/article429071.ece |title=The Hindu : Arts / Music : Recording Gauhar Jaan |publisher=Beta.thehindu.com |date=13 May 2010 |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref> Her father, Robert William Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Adeline Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, was the daughter of Hardy Hemmings, a british soldier and Rukmini in Allahabad and had a sister Vela, Vicky as she was called had been trained in music and dance.{{cn|date=January 2021}}

In 1879 the marriage ended, causing hardships to both mother and daughter, who moved to [[Banaras]] in 1881, with a Muslim nobleman, 'Khursheed', who appreciated Victoria's music more than her husband. Later, Victoria converted to Islam and changed Angelina's name to 'Gauhar Jaan' and hers to 'Malka Jaan'.<ref name="Tribune">[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020526/spectrum/main7.htm The importance of being Gauhar Jan] [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]], 26 May 2002.</ref>

==Career==
In time, Victoria (now 'Malka Jaan') became an accomplished singer, [[Kathak]] dancer and a tawaif in Banaras, and made a name for herself, as ''Badi Malka Jan''; she was called ''Badi'' (elder) because at that time three other Malka Jans were famous: Malka Jan of [[Agra]], Malka Jan of Mulk Pukhraj and Malka Jan of ''Chulbuli'', and she was the eldest amongst them.<ref name="south"/>

Malka Jaan moved back to Calcutta in 1883, and established herself in the courts of Nawab [[Wajid Ali Shah]], who had settled at Metiaburj (Garden Reach), near [[Kolkata]] and within three years purchased a building at 24 Chit pore Road (now Rabindra Sarani), for Rs. 40,000. It is here that young Gauhar started her training, she learnt pure and light classical [[Hindustani classical music|Hindustani]] vocal music from, Kale Khan of [[Patiala]], 'Kalu Ustad', and Ustad [[Ali Baksh Jarnail]] (founding members of [[Patiala Gharana]]) and [[Kathak]] from legendary Brindadin Maharaj (granduncle of [[Birju Maharaj]]), [[Dhrupad]] dhamar from Srijanbai, and Bengali Keertan from Charan Das. Soon she also started writing and composing [[ghazals]] under the pen-name 'Hamdam' and became proficient in [[Rabindra Sangeet]].<ref name="chowk">[http://chowk.com/ilogs/66468/32808 Gohar Jan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724130034/http://www.chowk.com/ilogs/66468/32808 |date=24 July 2008 }} Chowk, 16 April 2008.</ref>

Gauhar Jaan gave her maiden performance at the royal courts of [[Darbhanga Raj]] in 1887 and was appointed as court musician,<ref name="Tribune2008" /> after receiving extensive dance and music training from a professional dancer at [[Banaras]].<ref name="south">[http://www.the-south-asian.com/Oct2003/Gauhar_Jan.htm 'My name is Gauhar Jan'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517083302/http://www.the-south-asian.com/Oct2003/Gauhar_Jan.htm |date=17 May 2008 }} www.the-south-asian.com, October 2003.</ref> Gauhar Jan started performing in [[Calcutta]] in 1896 and was called the 'first dancing girl' in her records. She met Gujarati Parsi theatre artist [[Amrit Keshav Nayak]] around 1904–1905 and had a brief relationship with him before his sudden death in 1907. He helped her recover from trauma following death of her mother.<ref name="Sampath">{{cite book|author=Vikram Sampath|title=My Name is Gauhar Jaan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpSaAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT120|publisher=Rupa Publications|isbn=978-81-291-2233-9|pages=120–122}}</ref>

Gauhar Jaan first visited [[Madras]] in 1910, for a concert in the [[Victoria Public Hall]], and soon her [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] and Urdu songs were published in a Tamil music book. In December 1911, she was famously invited to perform at the coronation of [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] at [[Delhi Durbar]], where she sang a duet, ''Ye Hai Tajposhi Ka Jalsa, Mubarak Ho Mubarak Ho'', with Jankibai of [[Allahabad]].<ref name="south"/>

Eventually, in her final days, she moved to [[Mysore]], at the invitation of [[Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV]] of [[Mysore]], and on 1 August 1928,<ref name="chowk"/> she was appointed as a 'Palace musician', though she died within 18 months, on 17 January 1930 in [[Mysore]].<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080720114624/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2008/01/14/stories/2008011450660500.htm Gauhar Jan in Madras]}} [[The Hindu]], 14 January 2008.</ref>

In her lifetime, she recorded more than 600 songs from 1902 to 1920, in more than ten languages,<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20030422115341/http://hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/03/stories/2003020301520200.htm Making musical waves]}} [[The Hindu]], 3 February 2003.</ref> including Bengali, Hindustani, Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, Arabic, Persian, Pushto, French, and English. She would round off her performances for a record by announcing 'My name is Gohar Jan'.<ref name="first"/><ref>[http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellpatke/Miscellany/gauharjan.htm Gauhar Jan Discography]</ref>

She popularised light [[Hindustani classical music]] with her [[thumri]], [[dadra]], [[kajri]], [[chaiti]], [[bhajan]], [[tarana]] renditions, and also mastered the technique of condensing performing the elaborate melody Hindustani classical style to just three and a half minutes for a record. Her most famous song are, [[thumri]] sung in [[Bhairavi (Hindustani)|Bhairavi]] is ''Mora nahak laye gavanava, jabse gaye mori sud huna live'',<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080413/spectrum/main1.htm Melodies on record] [[Pran Nevile]], [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]], 13 April 2008.</ref> ''Ras ke bhare Tore Nain'', ''Mere dard-e-jigar''<ref>[http://www.earthmusic.net/hindi-film-songs.php?singerid%5B%5D=gauharjan&singermtype=plus Ras Ke Bhare]</ref> and Bhajans like, ''Radhey Krishna Bol Mukhse''.{{cn|date=January 2021}}

==Inspiration and honours==
It is said that [[Begum Akhtar]] in her early days wanted to pursue a career in Hindi films, but after listening to the singing of Gauhar and her mother, she gave up the idea completely and devoted herself to learning [[Hindustani classical music]], in fact, her first teacher was Ustad [[Imdad Khan]], who accompanied the mother-daughter duo on [[sarangi]].{{cn|date=January 2021}}

On 26 June 2018, [[Google]] commemorated Gauhar Jaan with a [[Google Doodle|Doodle]] on her 145th birth anniversary.<ref name="Gauhar Jaan Google Doodle">{{cite web | title=Who was Gauhar Jaan, the singer Google Doodle is honouring today? | website=India Today | date=26 June 2018 | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/people/story/who-was-gauhar-jaan-the-singer-google-doodle-is-honouring-today-1269871-2018-06-26| access-date=9 April 2019}}</ref> Google commented: "Gauhar Jaan, who emerged on the scene at the turn of the 20th century, gained popularity through her singing and dancing, and would go on to define the future of Indian performance art.".<ref name="Gauhar Jaan's Google Doodle">{{cite web | title=Gauhar Jaan's 145th Birthday | website=Google | date=26 June 2018 | url=https://www.google.com/doodles/gauhar-jaans-145th-birthday| access-date=9 April 2019}}</ref>

==India's first recording sessions==
India's first recording sessions included Gauhar Jaan, singing a [[khayal]] in Raag Jogiya, recorded by [[Fred Gaisberg]] of the [[Gramophone Company]]. The sessions began on 8 November 1902. Over the course of six weeks, more than 500 matrices were recorded of local artists. The records were manufactured in Germany and shipped to India in April 1903. They proved a great success in popularising the gramophone in India, where locals had no interest or appreciation for Western music.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lubinski|first1=Christina|last2=Steen|first2=Andreas|title=Traveling Entrepreneurs, Traveling Sounds: The Early Gramophone Business in India and China|journal=Itinerario|volume=41|issue=2|year=2017|pages=275–303|issn=0165-1153|doi=10.1017/S0165115317000377|s2cid=164864077}}</ref> The recording was done in a makeshift recording studio in two large rooms of a hotel in [[Kolkata]].<ref>[http://indianraga.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/gauhar-jan-early-recordings-in-india/ Gauhar Jaan: Early Recordings in India] This announcement was necessary since the wax masters were sent to Hanover in Germany for pressing the records and the technicians would make proper labels and confirm the name by listening to these announcements at the end of the three minutes performance.</ref> By 1903, her records started appearing in Indian markets and were in great demand.<ref name="NavGujarat Samay 2016">{{cite web | title=ઠુમરીના જલસાઓની શાન: 'માય નેમ ઈઝ ગૌહર જાન!' | website=NavGujarat Samay | date=21 May 2016 | url=http://m.navgujaratsamay.com/editorial/opinion/-/articleshow/52368165.cms | language=gu | access-date=11 February 2017}}</ref><ref>[http://www.livemint.com/2007/12/09235905/Saregama8217s-online-store.html Saregama’s online store] www.livemint.com [[Wall Street Journal]], 10 December 2007.</ref><ref name="express">[http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=201610 Rebuilding a 100 years of priceless recordings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302015359/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=201610 |date=2 March 2009 }} [[The Indian Express]], 17 September 2006.</ref><ref name="first">[http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/gauhar.htm 'First dancing girl, Calcutta']</ref>

==Restoration and release==
[[Sa Re Ga Ma|Saregama India]] (formerly the Gramophone Co. of India Ltd. or [[His Master's Voice]] ([[HMV]])), is planning to re-release the milestone recordings of Gauhar Jaan, after retrieving them from Gramophone Company's London archives, and restoring them to their original glory.<ref name="express"/><ref>[https://archive.today/20130203155902/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021101/asp/calcutta/story_1343130.asp 100 years of recording] [[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]], 1 November 2002.</ref>{{update needed|date=January 2021}}

Her songs are also part of the 'Vintage Music From India' (1996) audio album, and her image forms its cover.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Music-India-Century-Classical/dp/B0000002SN 'Vintage Music From India']</ref>

==Contemporaries==
There were four singing contemporaries of Gauhar Jaan with first names pronounced the same way as hers and sometimes spelled in English in different ways:

* Gauhar Jan of Patiala;{{cn|date=January 2021}}
* Miss Gohar, who was associated with Parsi Theatrical Company in [[Bombay]] (Mumbai);{{cn|date=January 2021}}
* [[Gohar Mamajiwala|Gohar Kayoum Mamajiwala]] (also known as Miss Gohar), a singer actress who was associated with and mistress of Sardar [[Chandulal Shah]] of [[Ranjit Studios|Ranjit Films (studio)]], Bombay; and
*Gohar Bai Karnataka of Bijapur. She is typically associated with [[Bal Gandharva]].{{cn|date=January 2021}}


==See also==
* [[Tawaif]]
* [[Nautch]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Sampath |first1=Vikram |title=My Name is Gauhar Jaan! |date=2010 |publisher=Rupa Publications |isbn=978-8129116185}}
* [http://hindi-movies-songs.com/sirc/Vol-5-Pdf-File-Jan-92.pdf Khayal and thumri gayaki of Late Gauhar Jan of Calcutta], S. R. Mehta, Volume 5 (January 1992), ''The Record News'', The Journal of 'The Society of Indian Record Collectors' (SIRC).
* {{cite journal |last1=Widdess |first1=Richard |title=Review: Vintage Music from India: Early Twentieth-Century Classical and Light-Classical Music |journal=British Journal of Ethnomusicology |date=1994 |volume=3 |page=132 |jstor=3060823 }}
* Lall, Inder Jit, "Erotic Malika who wrote poetry", ''Patriot Magazine'', 22 April 1973

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==

* [https://chandrakantha.com/biodata/gauhar_jan.html Biography of Gauhar Jahan] by [[David Courtney]]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaan, Gauhar}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:Hindustani singers]]
[[Category:Indian women classical singers]]
[[Category:Kathak exponents]]
[[Category:Singers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian people of Armenian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Women Hindustani musicians]]

[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women artists]]

[[Category:20th-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women singers]]

[[Category:People from Azamgarh]]
[[Category:Singers in British India]]
[[Category:Dancers in British India]]

Gauhar Jaan - Revision history

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